go to cairo, to the shops of cairo, and you will see photographs of ahmadinejad, an iranian leader. why? because he stands up for the palestinians. that's the game the iranians play, and my guess is the more horrible the pictures are out of gaza the more there is a sense of this massive drift of power between israel and the palestinians. the more iran will be seen as one of the few countries that is willing to really stand up and speak against the west and, you know, they have, as you know, very colorful rhetoric, but that's all geared towards this regional gain where they're almost outwitting the arab against the palestinians. >> let me veer off to israel for a moment. benjamin netanyahu is up for reelection soon. how much do you think what's happening now, this rousing with gaza, does or doesn't have anything to do with him? >> we have to hope this has nothing to do with that because this is a very serious business. not only is he taking his own country into a military operation, he is risking regional stability because you have a whole different regional dynamic at play now. you